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Toads crossing 2019

The toad breeding season has begun for 2019 with the first sighting of breeding toads spotted on the 16th January, 2 days earlier than last year. It was spotted in St Brelade parish in the same pond as last year.

We asked our local wildlife recorders what top tip they would give to someone starting their journey of wildlife recording for the New Year

1. Start off simple. Learn a few new species at a time and get to grips with them for a few weeks or months before moving on to others. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with too much information to remember at the start.

Some species hibernate as butterflies, while other survive the winter as eggs (ova), larvae (caterpillars) or chrysalis (pupae). Species that are known to hibernate in the UK are: Peacock, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral.

Butterflies can hibernate in sheds, buildings, small structures such as bird boxes. Naturally they use hollows in trees, caves, rock crevices in stone walls getting them out of the cold for a few months.

Did you know the JSPCA Animals' Shelter collects dead red squirrels for research?

You can drop them at the Reception in anything from a bag to a jumper. This is so that the bodies of squirrels can be collected and post mortem examinations can be performed. It is important to have bodies that have not been frozen. This is a long term programme researching the prevalence of disease in Jersey’s red squirrel population.

What is meant by urban? In Jersey we think of urban areas as the large sections of buildings making up St Helier and Les Quennevais areas. I too have said that I live in the countryside, but do I really? Looking at the Urban Map created by Jersey Mapping (2007) our island’s urbans areas are all over the place, reaching out into our countryside habitats.

We are delighted to have received a substantial amount of support from the Gerard Le Claire Environmental Trust, who's funds have allowed us to create a new website for recording wildlife across the island.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a perennial plant found commonly throughout the island, notable for its feathery leaves and clustered, flat heads of flowers present in the summertime. The plant is well-suited to drier and grassier habitats and therefore flourishes in wayside ground and hedgerow banks. Being highly ornamental and rather aromatic, cultivars of the species are also often planted in gardens.

Myth Busting Monday – Do all bees die after they sting humans?
To begin, not all bees sting, males across species cannot sting. Those species which can sting, the honey bee is the one that is likely to die after stinging. It’s because of this that it is assumed that all bee species follow the same rule. MYTH BUSTED – False

We've had a very exciting week! Sarah was awarded conservationist of the year and was also awarded the Peter Walpole people's choice award for the centers BioBlitz schools project. Thank you for everyone who voted for our project and we can't wait to get started!

If we got £1 for every time we heard someone say this ........ This saying has developed because of bats amazing ability to use sonar to navigate through dark areas and avoid obstacles, called echolocation. Their eyes, although small, are completely functional. Fruit bats, that do not use echolocation, have sharp vision and some can see ultraviolet light. MYTH VERDICT: FALSE

The wives tale that earwigs burrowed into human ears to lay their eggs in our brain is false. The reason they are called earwigs is the from the Old English ēare, which means "ear", and wicga, which means "insect".

Our education officer, Sarah, was out with the Capturing Our Coast team today for training in rocky shore surveying and also learning about marine invasive surveys.

The invasive species survey can be conducted by anyone and we will follow this post with information of how to run the survey.
The rocky shore survey requires training but we will be speaking to the CoCoast team to see if the training can be run again later this year. Happy surveying!

Thank you to Jersey Sea Search for funding this training day and the CoCoast team traveling to Jersey.

With the sunny weather, temperatures rising and the arrival of spring there have been more and more reptile records coming in through the Facebook pages - Jersey Wildlife and through our online form.

It's surprising on such a small island that you are never too far away from spotting a reptile. If you have never seen one before or are a regular lizard spotter the feeling of seeing them close to home is stunning.

Biodiversity in Jersey draws people from around the world. We are a unique island with a rich marine ecosystem, a hot spot for bird spotters and have flora and fauna species that are not found in the UK.

Many locals and tourists when the weather is bright and sunny make their way to the wilder areas of the island for walks in biodiversity hot spots such as the North Coast and St Catherine’s Woods.

Researched and written by Dominic Hodnett for the Jersey Biodiversity Centre, May 2017.

Red Valerian is perhaps one of Jersey’s most common and well known summer flowers, adorning walls, hedge banks and stony ground from May until September. A persistent perennial, the plant re-sprouts from the roots up when damaged, allowing it to re-establish both in springtime and after the twice-annual branchage.

Now is the time of year you can witness tadpoles if your lucky enough to have pond in your garden or at school. We recently went pond dipping at D’Auvergne school where we found loads of tadpoles in the first stage of their development - without any legs.

Over time you get to see them change as they undergo metamorphosis, which is the process where they grow legs, absorb their tail and eventually turn into adult toads.

Did you know that when an animal undergoes metamorphosis their DNA doesn’t change even though they completely change their appearance.

The Jersey toad (Bufo spinosus, known locally as the Crapaud) has an iconic status and was once a familiar sight in island ponds and waterways. Recently numbers have declined and so, since 2005, conservationists have been using information from Jersey residents to create an island-wide picture of the toad’s distribution, abundance and breeding patterns.

Come see us at Wild About Jersey where we will be looking at earthworms with UK experts Emma and Kerry from the Earth Worm Society of Britain.

Throughout the day we will have earthworms on the show so you can your practice measuring skills and learn about their biology and life underground.

At 12:30-13:00 on Saturday and Sunday you can join in with an earthworm survey. Which involves digging and checking which of the three groups they belong to, checking soil types so be prepared for muddy hands (but gloves will be provided!).

The JSPCA Animals' Shelter would like islander's assistance with a project that is helping to conserve Jersey's red squirrel population. For more details click on the link below:JSPCA Red Squirrel Study